| | In 1973 in the Sahel zone of Senegal, the drought had been particularly severe. Abdoulaye Diop, a student who originally came from the village of Ronkh, in the delta of the Senegal River, wondered what he could do to relieve the miserable conditions in which his parents were living. What, too, could be done to stop the young people from fleeing in large numbers towards the city? Abdoulaye decided to return to live in his village. Together with some friends, he dug a canal by hand to bring water from one of the tributaries of the river to a plot of land that the elders of the village had allocated to them. As it turned out, the first swings of the pick-axes started up a peasant association that was to become one of the most dynamic in the country: the Walo Farmers' Association. One of the most dynamic - and most exposed. The club association stemmed from the refusal of the young people (you are young for a long time in Walo - at least until you are 35 years old!) to accept the model imposed by the State Development Company responsible for the management of the irrigation system and rice cultivation in the delta area. The young people had no access to the land that had been irrigated and drained: this was reserved for the members of the cooperatives that had been formed by the Company. And the cooperative members were their own fathers! The young men and women needed a lot of vision, solidarity and patience to become autonomous farmers. It could be said that the Association was set up as a challenge to the State and to their parents. |
